All For One Child
by Aenthir
Summary: The Reaper War ended long ago. Now Aedri Shepard, an asari Spectre gone rogue, is searching for her missing parents. Now with a clue to their location, she undertakes a dangerous journey to violate Council law and travel beyond the known relays. What she uncovers is a threat none could imagine and an unlikely alliance that is struggling to contain it.
1. Chapter 1

**Update (1/30/2013):**

****My apologies, if you've read this story before, a new chapter has not been added yet. In preparation for adding the next chapter I was making some corrections and accidentally deleted some chapters, so I've just readded them. So nothing new for you to read just yet!

Thanks for all the reviews, follows and messages so far.

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**Chapter I**

**Prologue**

It was all over for the human pirate. He was trapped and there was no way out. This was not how he expected it to end as he turned to face his pursuer. Blasto, the first hanar Spectre, had chased him through Council space and across the Attican Traverse, always just a step behind, but now the human's luck had run out.

"You'll never take me alive, jelly," the human threatened.

"This one has misplaced its tolerance for your criminal activity," Blasto replied flatly, leveling one of the many pistols he clutched in his tentacles at the human. "Enkindle this."

With a wild a scream the human flew up into the air and slammed forcefully back onto the ground. Blasto then proceeded to jump up and down on his corpse. Then an asari child giggled and made "pew pew" laser sounds as Blasto exacted justice.

Her parents watched her, smiling at the thorough enjoyment she was getting out of her talking Blasto action figures they'd just purchased at Morlan's Many Fine Goods & Toys Emporium. It was Shepard's favorite toy store on the Citadel.

Liara shook her head and looked at Shepard with a wry smile. "Just like you. She's not happy unless something or someone is blowing up."

Shepard shrugged helplessly as she stood up from her chair. "What can I say? The kid's a natural Spectre. You're the one who lets her watch the Blasto cartoon though." She took a seat in the floor next to her daughter.

Liara sighed. "I can't help it. She loves it, and I can't deny her anything. Another thing she inherited from you." Liara bit her lip after she said that. It was after all Aedri's unexpected inheritance from Shepard that had brought them here.

Shepard tried to give a reassuring smile. She knew she was troubled and reached her hand out, which Liara clasped. "It'll be ok," Shepard assured her.

Aedri pulled on Shepard's arm to get her attention and offered her the Blasto figure. "Mira," she said, using the Asari term for father, "you can be Blasto. He's a Spectre too!"

"You don't want to be Blasto?" Shepard asked with surprise as she took the toy.

"No, I want to be this one," she said and held up a female human Alliance soldier. "She's like you."

"See, all she wants is to be just like you," Liara said, "though that is not such a bad thing."

Shepard beamed. It meant more than she could express that her daughter was so fascinated with her.

"Mira?" Aedri said, looking at Shepard with sweet green eyes.

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"When can we go see Tali? I wanna play with Seta and Ranna."

"Soon. I promise."

Aedri nodded her approval.

Shepard and Liara both started when the door suddenly opened and Dr. Chakwas entered the room. She stopped and knelt down by the little asari and Shepard.

"Good morning, Aedri. What do you have here?"

Aedri smiled and held up her new treasures proudly. "Blasto!"

"Wow. I like Blasto too!"

"He's a Spectre like Mira," she explained as she started playing again.

Dr. Chakwas chuckled and stood up. Shepard handed the toy back to Aedri, patted her on the head and returned to her seat. Dr. Chakwas greeted Shepard and Liara as she took a seat behind her desk. She could see that they were very nervous. They'd contacted her weeks ago, asking to come meet with her on Earth, however, knowing how busy they both were she offered to come to the Citadel. She was technically retired but was more than willing to help her old friends, especially given it was concerns they had about their daughter. She'd called in some favors and gotten permission to work out of an office at Huerta Memorial and done a thorough checkup of Aedri. The results had been unusual, and she had requested time to consult with some specialists she knew personally and who she could vouch for.

"Good morning, Liara, Councilor Shepard. Well, I know it's been a long few days for you, but at least now I can answer some of your questions. First let me say that Aedri is a very healthy little girl, but there are some concerns as we already knew."

Liara squeezed Shepard's hand tightly as she spoke. "What can you tell us, Karin?"

"So we started with the most obvious factors and worked from there," Dr. Chakwas began. "Your daughter has Shepard's eyes, which of course shouldn't be the case, since we all know asari children don't inherit anything genetically from the father. I spoke with a friend of mine who specializes in asari genetics. She first suggested a number of possibilities. Perhaps that your daughter was an anomaly, that there was something unique in Shepard's DNA, or that this could be a new stage of asari evolution. Then of course, there is the more serious issue that your daughter is maturing at a rate more akin to humans than asari. At five years she's at the approximate level for a human child of the same age, which is almost double where an asari should be."

That thought alone terrified Liara. She already knew she would outlive Shepard by centuries, barring some twist of fate, and that was more than she could bear to think about. To consider the possibility that she might also outlive her daughter was too much and had led to many sleepless nights lately.

"However," Dr. Chakwas began, seeing the fear in Liara's eyes growing, "I do have some good news to offer on that issue. While she is currently maturing more rapidly, our analysis of her DNA leads us to believe there is no reason she couldn't live an extremely long life. It is possible that she could live as long as an asari."

"Could live as long? Why wouldn't she?" Shepard asked. They had of course known for some time that Aedri was maturing faster than an asari child should, and she had been guilt-ridden because she was so torn on the issue. While Shepard was of course extremely worried about her daughter, a small part of her was happy that the little girl was maturing more like a human, because it gave her the opportunity for her to have a more traditional parent relationship with her daughter which could often be difficult for a race that lived such a short time compared to the asari. Nevertheless, she would give anything to make sure her daughter was healthy.

"After performing some tests on the information I sent about your daughter, my colleagues and I discovered something interesting." She tapped a button on her desk and a holographic projection of a DNA strand appeared. "This is Aedri's DNA. Do you notice anything unusual?"

Liara leaned forward in her chair, studying the hologram. "Triple helix?"

Chakwas nodded. "Yes, and there are a couple of issues here. The normal double-helix strands contain her pure asari DNA. The third strand contains a percentage of human DNA, which can be traced to Shepard. Which would explain why she has Shepard's eyes and is following more of a human development track. There is more to it than just Shepard though. There is other DNA present, however it is still developing. It's incomplete.

"Incomplete?" Shepard asked, as she watched her daughter playing.

"Yes, there are gaps in the genetic code. It is still developing, and it is making changes. It's reprogramming part of her genetic code to create new outcomes."

"Karin, what the hell does this mean for Aedri?" Shepard tried to keep her voice calm, but she was about to snap. She needed to know that her daughter was going to be ok.

"Aedri is an asari-human hybrid. She has the best of both of you, but she has something more. This third strand is modifying her, not in any way you can see, but on a cellular level. Currently her cells are sacrificing longevity for increased energy. Greater cellular regeneration, enhanced biotic potential. The third strand is trying to make her better in some ways at the expense of others."

"There is no way to make her better!" It was Liara's turn to snap. "She's wonderful the way she is."

Aedri went over to her mother and buried her face in her shoulder.

Liara's face paled and she wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into her lap. "I'm sorry, little one. Mommy didn't mean to get angry. Karin is just trying to help."

"Dr.," Shepard began hesitantly, her voice shaking, "it's not… turning her into a husk? Is it Reaper technology?"

Dr. Chakwas shook her head. "No, we have a great deal of information on husks, there is nothing to indicate such a transformation in Aedri, but I cannot discount the possibility that this is related to the Reapers or even to Cerberus, or she really could be a new stage in asari evolution. However, I believe we can stop it."

Shepard's face brightened and she looked to Liara. Aedri had fallen asleep and Liara was gently rocking her. "That sounds… I mean that sounds good, but do we know what the effect would be?"

"Not for certain, but I have spoken to several colleagues at length. We believe we could create a treatment to inhibit the modifications caused by the third strand. We can't remove it, but we believe we could make it dormant."

"I'm wondering, since it isn't causing her serious harm as of yet, should we wait and see?" Liara suggested.

Dr. Chakwas let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her forehead, not sure how to tell them. "Before you decide. There is one more thing. We discovered nanites in some of her cells."

Shepard arched an eyebrow. "Nanites? You mean robots?"

Dr. Chakwas nodded. "Not quite like anything we've seen before. However, there is some similarity between them and some of your Cerberus implants, Shepard, but it's been heavily modified. Their main purpose seems to be construction of the third strand but beyond that we don't know. A salarian nanotech expert who examined one of them thinks he could render them inert as well."

"You can't remove them?" Liara asked.

Dr. Chakwas shook her head. "They're microscopic, and we don't know how many there are. I would be hesitant to put Aedri through something like that unless it became necessary."

Shepard looked to Liara, who merely nodded. "Alright, Dr., let's try it your way."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

Aedri surveyed the living room. Everything appeared to be in order. She had spent the past few days cleaning, straightening, and organizing the house. If she didn't return from this, she didn't want whoever came looking for clues to her disappearance to find a mess. The white walls were spotless, the floor to ceiling windows that looked out over one of Thessia's oceans were clear in the afternoon sun, and the gray furniture looked brand new. She had, with extreme care, organized her mother's antique book collection on the glass and metal shelves that took up one entire wall in the living room. She was quite pleased with herself, since cleaning wasn't normally something she dealt with.

She approached the fireplace and took down one of the pictures set inside a glass frame. She smiled as she traced her fingers along the surface of the cool glass. It was a picture of her mother and father embracing shortly after the Battle of Earth that had ended the Reaper war. They were both badly injured, covered in ash, and bleeding but they couldn't be happier in that moment. Aedri's mother had once told her that it was only moments before that picture when she told her father that she was pregnant. She replaced the picture on the mantle, then after a second thought took it down again and placed it inside a backpack sitting on the couch.

With one last glance around the room, she then headed up the spiral staircase in the corner. The rooms upstairs were mostly bedrooms, except for her mother's old office and her father's 'treasure' as she always called it. It was this treasure room that drew Aedri. The room was filled with weapons and armor that her father had amassed over the years, some hanging from the walls, others in display cases, some still packed away, along with her numerous medals. The majority of the items in the room were woefully out of date for frontline combat, but Aedri knew she had to take something, some sort of good luck charm. She walked among the items, running her fingers across certain guns, an act that often got her sent to her room as a child when she was caught in the room where she was not allowed unsupervised. One of the pistols caught her eye, she picked it up. She remembered the story to this one. A salarian STG officer had given it to her father during a mission on Sur'Kesh. It was a new weapon the STG had developed at the time. It shot small orbs that adhered to any surface and then exploded when the trigger was held down. She smiled. This would do nicely she thought and headed back downstairs after closing and locking the door behind her.

As she was placing the pistol into her backpack a holodisplay on the back of her left hand indicated an incoming call. Her left hand and forearm were enveloped in a blue hologram as she activated her omnitool. She tapped on the holoscreen to accept the call.

"Are you ready?" An electronically distorted voice asked.

Aedri sighed and nodded to herself. "Yes, I think so. I was just finishing up some things."

"Your shuttle will be ready at spaceport Tiaran in Lonica in one hour."

"I do have bad news," Aedri said, her brow furrowing.

"Explain."

"EDI… she said no. She won't come. Says it's too dangerous. I tried to convince her. Told her 'of course it's too dangerous, but that's beside the point.' Said our chance of success was less than 3%." As she spoke she returned to the fireplace, looking at the pictures on the mantle.

There was a moment of silence before the voice spoke again. "Regrettable, but I have contingencies in place. It will make securing the Saphira more difficult, but if you can get to it I can assist you from there. Do you think she will report you to the Council?"

Aedri thought for a moment. The thought had never crossed her mind. Her parents had raised her to treat artificial life equally, and she'd known EDI her entire life. She trusted her. "No. I don't think that's an issue. She's not willing to help me kill myself, but she won't betray me."

"Still, perhaps I'll speak to her."

"I'll be leaving for the Citadel shortly. I expect to be fully underway in less than two days."

"Once the Saphira is in your possession, you are committed," the voice warned.

"I'm already committed," Aedri said absently, staring at a picture of herself and her little sister playing in the snow on Earth.

"We can't proceed if you're uncertain," the voice said, concern evident even through the distortion.

"Turn that damn thing off for a minute," Aedri said.

"What?"

"I want to hear your voice," Aedri replied simply.

"I'm sorry. It automatically turns on, Aedri. It's a security issue," a softer female voice replied.

"Well, you always were the smart and cautious one. That's why mom picked you," Aedri said with obvious admiration.

"And you're the brave and reckless one. That's why we can do this. We're stronger together."

Aedri bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"I have a surprise for you on the shuttle," the voice said with a slightly playful tone.

Aedri smiled to herself, it'd been a long time since she'd heard that playfulness in her voice and now she missed it sorely. "I'm familiar with your 'surprises.' You're usually more entertained by them than I am."

She laughed. "That is true I guess. I have to go. I'll contact you tonight on the Citadel."

"It's time to bring them home, Annika," Aedri said simply and took the picture of her sister and herself and placed it with the other one in her backpack.

"Indeed it is. Good luck, Aedri."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III**

As Aedri Shepard stepped through the entrance to the shop, a chime went off followed by a recording: "I'm Commander Shepard and this is my favorite store on the Citadel." Aedri never got tired of hearing that.

"Spectre! Come, come! I have it ready for you," the old salarian behind the sales counter said eagerly. Before she could even look around, he was leading her over to a display that had a long rectangular case on it.

The salarian's eyes twitched nervously as he watched her run her hands slowly across the surface of the case. The seconds ticked by slowly as he waited for her to open it.

"I think you will be pleased. Most pleased!" The salarian said and then pressed his hand to his forehead. "Are you hot? Does it feel hot in here? I think I'm hot."

She looked at him and smiled reassuringly. "Velon, you've never let me down."

"Yes, yes, I know that. Of course I know that. Velon keeps his promises! That's my motto. I even have it written on a sign in my store. It says: 'Welcome to Intergalactic Emporium. Shop with confidence, because Velon keeps his promises!'"

"Would it make you happy if I opened this?" She asked, knowing the salarian was suffering.

Velon's eyes widened expectantly. "As the customer wishes. That's another motto! The customer's satisfaction is always first. I just… I know how important this is to you, Aedri. I'm sorry, Spectre."

"Aedri is fine, Velon, as I've told you many times." She said and hit a keypad on the case and the top slid open. She looked into it and her breath caught in her throat. "Velon, it's beautiful!"

The salarian nearly fainted and grabbed the edge of a nearby sales display to steady himself. "You like it then? It's what you wanted?"

She reached down and ran her fingers across the smooth gray metal. "It looks just like the original."

"Oh yes! I was quite insistent, quite insistent that they follow the original design specifically. However, it does have the most modern enhancements. The Trien Corp phase nine biotic capacitors just hit the market a few weeks ago, but I made sure they were included. They increase biotic focus fifteen percent more effectively than the phase eights!"

"Will you have this delivered to my ship?" She said, continuing to stare at the armor in the crate.

"With great pleasure! You are satisfied then?"

She looked at Velon and smiled. "Yes, Velon. You've done a wonderful job."

Velon nodded. "Had to. This shop, my great-grandfather put everything he had into it. Commander Shepard's endorsement increased profits, allowed him to open more shops throughout Council space. My family would not be what it is today without Commander Shepard. That makes Commander Shepard's daughter number one customer!"

She smiled and sealed the case back up. "Velon, I know this was expensive. Please let me pay you something for it."

Velon frowned and shook his head vigorously. "No, you've been a loyal customer for many years. Just as your father was. This is a thank you from my family to yours."

Aedri wrapped the salarian in a hug. "You take care of yourself, ok?"

Velon returned the hug, and then pushed her back and locked her eyes with his. "You aren't coming back are you?"

"Don't worry about me," she replied.

"Wait here!" He said and rushed into the back of the store.

Aedri could hear him in the back mumbling to himself as he dug through crates.

"Where did I put that little bosh'tet?" She heard him say several times. It made her smile. Velon had been just a young salarian fresh from Sur'Kesh when they first met. He'd always gone out of his way to help her and get her the equipment she needed as cheaply as he could.

He came back out a few moments later carrying a small case. "Here," he said as he offered her the case. "Take this. Want you to be safe. Always wanted daughter like you. Too nervous to find salarian wife then. Too old now."

Aedri blushed. "Never too late."

Velon shrugged it off. "Awkward now. Salarian females capable of breeding too young for me. Perhaps just need young salarian model to spice up life."

She nodded. "I think you've earned that."

"You will try to come back."

She nodded. "Yes. I promise."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter IV**

An hour after leaving Velon's shop Aedri was in the waiting room for the krogan embassy. She was on the balcony, pacing back and forth, her hands clasped behind her back, her blue lips moving as she silently practiced her speech. She stopped for a moment and approached the edge of the balcony which looked out over the Citadel Presidium. From this vantage point she could see the shops and parks below along both sides of the crystal blue reservoir that ran the length of the Presidium. The trees were in full bloom and she could smell the scents of the pine needles. It was that time of the year when the Presidium was decorated with trees and plants from Earth. The smell of the pines reminded her of father's birthplace near the large gray mountains in a place called Austria. She'd gone there a few times as a child but hadn't been in years, but the sudden smell brought all the memories rushing back to her and she closed her eyes and smiled. It was short lived. She took a deep breath and forced her eyes open. Unfortunately she didn't have time to enjoy the scenery or reminisce. She wished she had the time as she'd spent many of her early years on the Citadel and had fond memories, but she'd only been back on the Citadel for a few hours and had spent most of that time making preparations and planning what she would say at this meeting.

Turning her attention away from the scene below, she walked back into the waiting room. The ceiling rose high above her in a vault, with large colored banners hanging down displaying the crests of the most powerful krogan clans. What caught her attention though more than the banners, as she was pulled further out of her reverie, were two of the walls in the room which were covered in screens that flashed different scenes of krogan soldiers fighting in the Reaper War. Krogan on Palaven, Thessia and more. The krogan wanted to remind whoever was in the room and waiting to see the ambassador, that the krogan had earned their place on the Citadel. Aedri tried to ignore the fourth wall at the far end of the room, but she couldn't help but approach it. That wall was simply one giant screen about fifteen feet high and on it was displayed a life size photo of Urdnot Wrex and her father, Saeka Shepard, standing atop a wrecked Mako in London with a burning Reaper in the background.

Aedri studied the image of the young woman on the screen, standing there in her scorched silver armor with the blood red dragon splashed across her chest. Her short red hair was dirty and singed, but her green eyes fairly glowed with the hard fought victory she had just earned. She had always been jealous of Mira's hair and as a child always wanted to help her brush it. Sometimes she wished that she could have hair like hers instead of the fringe she'd inherited from her mother. Even more than her hair though was her beautiful green eyes, which made her cringe with guilt. On her 40th birthday, her parents had finally acquiesced to her continual demands to fit in with her asari classmates and have her eyes tinted to a more natural asari color. She had nearly cried when she looked in the mirror after the treatment and saw her sapphire blue eyes. Her father never said anything, but she knew she was disappointed. She'd always meant to have the tinting reversed, but it took her father and mother's disappearance before she actually did it. She regretted that her father didn't get to see her green eyes again.

Letting out a heavy sigh she returned to her pacing. She knew she had no reason to be nervous, she'd been in much more stressful situations than this, but she couldn't shake the feeling. Years of waiting, putting all the cryptic pieces together and planning were finally coming to an end, at least she hoped so. Her thoughts were interrupted as a door at the other end of the room slid open and a large krogan in heavily scarred black armor entered the room. Aedri was sure she'd seen him on one of her many visits to Tuchanka when she was younger but couldn't recall his name.

"The clan leader will see you now," he said and motioned for her to follow.

She followed him out of the room and down a hallway and into the main chamber of the Krogan Embassy, where the clan leader had agreed to meet her. The clan leader turned to greet her as she entered the room while the other krogan took up his guard position at the door.

Aedri was slightly overwhelmed when he charged at her, laughing wildly as he wrapped her in powerful hug that squeezed the breath out of her.

"Wrex… can't breathe. Can't breathe, Wrex…," Aedri managed to get out, her already blue face turning an even darker shade.

Wrex dropped the young asari with a grunt. "Ha! I saw your mother throw out a biotic wave that would fry a banshee and your father could heat butt like a true krogan." Wrex eyed her carefully. "Any child those two popped out should be tougher than a thresher maw. Don't tell me you've gone… squishy."

Aedri cocked her head and smiled, her hands resting on her hips. "I'll head butt a krogan with the best of them, but hugs are an entirely different matter. Krogan love is a hazard all its own."

Wrex snarled and shrugged, refusing to look her in the eye. "Never said I loved you."

The young woman pretended to pout and then she reached up and patted Wrex on the cheek. "You didn't have to. You probably don't even tell your own children… much less your favorite goddaughter."

"Smart kid," he said and gestured for her to follow. Wrex led the way out onto another balcony overlooking the Presidium. He pointed to a couple of chairs around a small table with a pitcher and some glasses. "Sit your blue ass down."

Aedri chuckled and took a seat. Wrex picked up the pitcher and poured a dark blue liquid into the two glasses.

"Katil Wine. Best krogan-made wine you'll find," Wrex said, though the tone of his voice made it sound as if he himself didn't believe it.

Aedri arched an eyebrow and then picked up the glass and took a small sip. It was cold and sweet. A look of surprise was all she could muster. "Krogan wineries?"

Wrex took a seat. "Heh. Yeah, one of Bakara's dealings. She says krogan need something besides fighting these days. Though from what I hear, getting a katil vine to grow is a battle all its own. Damn things have thorns that can pierce armor at high velocity. I have to give her credit though; the stuff's become damn valuable. Can hardly make enough of it. The quarians can actually drink it without their insides exploding, so they've become one of our best customers."

"I must admit… it's delicious. Quite unexpected," she said and took another drink.

"I'll take ryncol anytime over this. That's a real krogan drink. Now what'd you drag old Uncle Wrex in here for?"

"I'm going after them, and I need your help." This was not the speech she had planned out but in that moment it was all she could come up with. Wrex's face became troubled, a look she'd never seen on the old warrior, and she found it disquieting.

"No. I'd rather throw you in a vorcha den than let you go there. I promised Shepard I'd look after you." Besides Liara, who had vanished suddenly along with Shepard decades ago, Wrex was the only one who would live long enough to keep an eye on Aedri and Annika, and he'd sworn to Shepard a long time ago that he would do so. Since Liara and Shepard were both gone, he felt entirely responsible for them, especially this particular hotheaded asari who was so much like her father. The old krogan was immensely proud of all she'd accomplished since her parents' disappearance, though he would never tell her of course. He hadn't the vaguest idea what Annika was up to.

Aedri steeled herself. "They're alive, Wrex. I know it. We can't just leave them there."

"It's been decades. The Asari looked for them. The Alliance looked for them. The Spectres looked for them. They didn't find a damn thing," Wrex said, shaking his head. "Besides," he began hesitantly, "Shepard was over a hundred when she vanished. Humans, they aren't like us. They don't…"

Aedri stared directly at him as he spoke until he returned her gaze. Those green eyes bored into him. "Wrex, you know that's not true anymore. While humans may not live as long as us, it's gotten better, even before she vanished. I have new information, Wrex. They need me."

"You didn't fight the Reapers, kid. You don't have the slightest damn idea what you're asking."

"I'm not a child, Wrex. I've seen the vids. Mom and Mira, and you if I might remind you, told me the stories."

Wrex grunted and waved her excuses away. "Vids and stories. Shepard was as hard a warrior as they come, and she barely survived the war. If you died on my watch…," he reached out and thumped her forehead with his finger, "not happening."

"You don't think I can do it?"

He stood up went to the railing, looking out over the Presidium. "Beside the point. I know what you've done."

"That's right. Asari commando training. Cross-training with Alliance N7s. One of the youngest…"

"… Asari Spectres in council history," he completed her sentence and turned back to face her. "Shepard's quad and Liara's brain. Yeah, I know all about that."

Aedri merely nodded her head. "I became what I am because of what my parents taught me not because of what my parents had done. I made my accomplishments my own. Everyone was always harder on me. And that's fine. I don't want anyone to think for a second that I got a free pass because of who my parents are."

Wrex knew she was right. "You have a ship? A crew? A plan?"

She tried to keep a smile from tugging at the corner of her lips. She knew she nearly had him. "The crew is coming together. Just some loose ends to tie up there."

"Who've you got in mind?" Wrex pressed.

"I know what I'm doing, Wrex." She was hesitant to reveal many details, even to someone she trusted as much as she trusted Wrex. Any slip up could put her mission in serious peril. If the Council knew what she was planning they would almost certainly revoke her Spectre status.

"Talk or I walk. I'm not backing this unless I know you're not gonna get your damn head splattered against a wall," he replied, crossing his arms and attempting to look as gruff as he could.

She could see he wasn't going to budge. "I've got myself for starters."

Wrex scratched his chin. "That is a damn good start."

"Kirith begged me to go. She just completed her advanced combat training on Palaven, and she's a fine pilot. I think she's eager to prove herself. I certainly know that feeling."

"Kirith?" Wrex asked, puzzled. "She's the granddaughter of that turian girl Tali and Garrus adopted after the war, right? She's just a kid."

Aedri toyed with the wine-filled glass, running her finger along the rim. "Well, I wouldn't call her a kid. She's young but capable."

"And you can trust her. That's the real bonus. There were times I wanted to put a bullet in Shepard's head, but I trusted her enough not to."

"That and she would've kicked your ass," Aedri retorted.

Wrex huffed. "What else you got?"

"I think I can get Taris," she said with a hint of uncertainty. She knew that the quarian would be a valuable asset, if she could get him. Annika had gone so far as to assure her she was almost certain she wouldn't succeed without his expertise.

"Taris is a damned good soldier. Almost made one of the first quarian Spectres I heard. Not bad, but he hates you," Wrex said matter-of-factly.

Aedri rolled her eyes. "He doesn't hate me, Wrex."

"I'm a krogan. I know hate. Trust me – he hates you. What'd you do to him anyway?" Wrex asked, watching her face closely.

Her blue cheeks flushed and she looked down at the Presidium below. "It's nothing. Anyway, I'm not asking him to do this for me."

"Did he hurt you?" Wrex asked, his fists clenching unconsciously. "When I mentioned your name, the look on his face..."

Her head jerked up, and her skin turned suddenly cold. "You spoke to him?"

"He was on Tuchanka for the last six months, after that Spectre business went south," Wrex said.

This was not a turn of events she expected or welcomed. "What? Why?"

"Spearheaded a venture with the geth to help us build new atmospheric purifiers. A little bit too much of an idealist for my taste. All about 'interspecies cooperation', but I like him. He's like you."

Aedri cleared her throat. "Ummm, how so?"

Wrex grinned and patted her too hard on the shoulder, forcing her to grit her teeth. "Just a good kid trying to save the galaxy, but he wouldn't talk about what happened with the Spectres. Just said he failed."

She didn't answer but just stared into her wine glass. She was glad Wrex didn't know the details about Taris's failure with the Spectres and that Taris hadn't talked, though she was fairly sure he wouldn't. Disappointing Wrex wasn't something she wanted to see, and she was afraid if he knew what she'd done he would lose all respect for her. That was one of the few things in the galaxy that she feared.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. If you get Kirith you've got Taris. She's like a little sister to him. No damn way he's letting her run off with into the void by herself. Especially with you."

"I know. Kirith is the one who introduced me to him a few years ago when they were stationed together on the Citadel Defense Fleet. You seem very well informed," Aedri said suspiciously.

Wrex shrugged. "I keep an eye on things. Call me the Krogan Shadow Broker if you like. What about Annika?"

"What about her?"

Wrex's eyes narrowed. "I know she has a part in this, but she's not a warrior like you. You can't drag her along this time. You can't rescue them and keep her safe."

She nodded in agreement. "I know, but she's watching. I couldn't do this without her."

"You have a ship?"

"I will have a ship," she said with an air of confidence and a sly grin. "The Alliance has the type of ship I need. They'll loan me one."

Wrex chuckled. "I doubt that."

"Loan is perhaps too strong a word. I consider it a loan, since I certainly intend to return it once I'm done."

Wrex raised his hand to stop her. "Not another word."

She frowned. "You know what I've gone through to prepare for this. I can't stop now. Wrex…"

He raised his hand to silence her. "No. If you say any more… I won't be able to stop myself from coming along," he said, a mischievous grin spreading across his broad reptilian face. "Mordin, get your hump over here!"

The krogan guarding the door walked over to join them.

"This is my first son, Mordin. He'll go with you." He turned to Mordin and with lightning quickness slammed his forehead into Mordin's.

The younger krogan fell back a few steps, shaking his head.

"You listen well. You're this asari's shadow. You damn well better hear me. I swear firstborn or not, if you let her die, never set foot on Tuchanka again. If they find her body, they better find yours lying next to it, or I will feed your corpse to the varren. That is Shepard's only child but I've got dozens more so I can stand to lose one."

Mordin growled at his father but nodded. "Her life is my own."

Wrex turned back to Aedri. "Where you headed?"

"Batarian Hegemony once I get my ship and crew sorted," Aedri replied.

"Damn. That does sound like fun," Wrex said wistfully. "I hope you're right about this, kid, but if anyone can bring Shepard and Liara back, it's you. So, tell Uncle Wrex what you need."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V**

The water had filled her lungs, and she felt as if her chest was about to burst as a fierce tingling spread throughout her body. She could see the surface of the water, only a few feet above her head, but each movement in her arms and legs as she struggled to reach the air only amplified the pain and panic. Then the giant lights appeared above the water. The lights that were searching for her. Then she felt the hands on her shoulders, pulling her down deeper. A disembodied voice whispered comfort.

Aedri was afraid to open her eyes. She took a deep breath. Yes, she could breathe, and the voice was still comforting her, and cool metal pressing on her shoulders. Opening her eyes, she looked into EDI's concerned face, and behind EDI was hovering Glyph, the holographic sphere. The sight of the two made her jump with a start. Glyph had been the surprise aboard the shuttle; her sister's holographic assistant was here to keep an eye on her. EDI's presence was a complete mystery to her.

"You were dreaming again," Annika's voice came from Glyph. "I've been attempting to wake you for some time."

"You are perspiring at an abnormal rate," EDI commented.

Aedri realized she was right. Her tank top was drenched. "No, it's ok," Aedri replied, a tone of anger in her voice. "What are you even doing here?"

"Annika requested that I meet you here. She has concerns about my loyalty. Glyph unlocked the door for me," EDI explained.

She closed her eyes, trying to recall the dream. "You shouldn't have woken me. I need... I need to see the dreams. They're part of this."

"Nightmares will not bring back Shepard or Dr. T'soni, and they will certainly do nothing for your wellbeing," EDI protested. "Do you not see my reasoning for refusing to offer you assistance?"

Glyph moved closer to Aedri. A narrow beam of blue light pulsed from his eye. It danced rapidly back and forth across her face for a few seconds and then vanished. Annika's voice was tinged with concern. "Your temperature is 3 degrees above normal. Instability is at 9%. I don't like seeing you suffer or jeopardizing your health. That is why I woke you. I have been tracking the changes. Instability rates always increase during your nightmares."

"You're not well, Aedri," EDI said. "I cannot support you in something that I believe will lead to your death."

Glyph turned to EDI and Annika spoke. "I respect your position, EDI, but this is something we must do."

Aedri ignored them and slid to the edge of the bed slowly; she could still feel the tingling, as if her entire body had fallen asleep. She planted her bare feet on the floor and rested her face in her hands. "Another dose," she said hoarsely through her laced fingers.

Glyph floated over in front of her. "Not advisable," Annika said. Her tone was sterner than Aedri had ever heard it. "You've already exceeded your recommended dosage for the day by 6%."

"Damn it. I'm starting to regret agreeing to let you put in that biometric implant," Aedri groaned.

EDI placed a hand on Aedri's shoulder. "Perhaps, you could take something to help you sleep easier."

"Can you help me to the shower first?" She asked softly. "I can't go back to sleep like this." Aedri didn't like showing this weakness in front of EDI or her sister, a weakness for which she would almost rather die than show anyone else.

"Glyph can help as well," Annika interjected. "He has new upgrades. Glyph, increase surface tension by two hundred percent."

"Acknowledged," Glyph's robotic voice replied. There was a slight surge of light from the small silver sphere floating in the center of Glyph's holographic body. Glyph moved down beside Aedri's left side. "Allow me to provide you support, Spectre."

Aedri wrapped her arm around the sphere. The hologram had indeed solidified and was slightly warm against her skin. EDI took her by the other arm and helped her to stand; sliding an arm around her waist she did so.

"Do not hesitate to place your weight on me. Your mass is insufficient to damage my structural integrity," EDI assured her.

Aedri smiled as she leaned against EDI. Her anger against her friend was beginning to fade. She knew EDI only had her best interest in mind. "Is that supposed to be a joke?"

"It is a fact," EDI replied as she and Glyph half-carried her into the bathroom.

Once in the bathroom, Aedri began to undress and Glyph turned away.

"Are you shy, Glyph?" She asked as she stepped carefully into the shower while EDI turned the water on. She shivered as the cold water hit her fevered skin. She slid down against the wall into a sitting position, just letting the water run over her.

"I did give him a shame subroutine. He could be a little intrusive at times," Annika's voice came from Glyph again.

Aedri sat in the shower and relaxing music begin to emanate from Glyph and made her smile. Barely audible, she began to softly sing the words of the song to herself. She waited for the pain and tingling to subside.

EDI went back into the other room to fetch her fresh clothes. It was an interesting experience, taking care of the young asari like she imagined she would take care of a daughter. It reminded her of taking care of Jeff, especially as he'd gotten older, though his attitude had certainly never changed with age, and the thought made her miss him, and that's why she couldn't go along with this foolish plan, but nor could she bring herself to stop it. She returned to the bathroom a few minutes later with the clothes.

"Are you finished?" She asked.

Aedri merely nodded, that slight movement causing her to tremble from the pain.

"I won't try to stop you," she offered as she helped her back out of the shower.

That at least made Aedri smile and she lifted her head to look EDI in the eyes. "Thank you."

EDI just smiled and then helped Aedri dry and get dressed and led her back into the other room, easing her down onto the edge of the bed.

Glyph hovered in front of her. "A small dose of trillen will help you sleep better," Annika said. A narrow beam of green light emanated from Glyph's eye again, aimed at Aedri's forehead. She could feel the pain subsiding as the light pulsed on her skin.

Aedri then motioned to a data pad on the desk. "Wrex's son Mordin will be joining us tomorrow when we leave for Rannoch. Those are his equipment requests. Could you take care of that in the morning, Glyph?"

Glyph moved over to the desk and began scanning the data pad with his blue light. "I do not require sleep. I could take care of it now."

"In the morning will be fine, Glyph."

"I spoke with Kirith. She and Taris will meet you at the rendezvous on Rannoch," Annika informed her.

"You're taking Kirith with you?" EDI asked.

Aedri nodded. "I'll keep her safe, EDI."

"Are you going to tell them?" EDI asked matter-of-factly.

"What?" Aedri asked, looking at EDI curiously. She did not like the direction this was going.

"Why do organics always pretend to feign ignorance of uncomfortable topics?"

"Not now, EDI," Aedri muttered, rubbing her temples. "I don't want them to doubt me or the mission. It's too important."

"Taris already doubts you, with good reason, making that excuse irrelevant."

Aedri's pulse quickened and she pursed her lips. "There are some things we do not discuss, EDI."

"That's not fair, EDI," Annika spoke up defensively. "Aedri did only what she had to do."

"Very well. However, do you believe they do not have the right to know, or is your reasoning based on the belief that it will not affect the mission?"

Aedri didn't answer for several moments. "Can't I have secrets that are just mine?"

EDI frowned. "Your father kept secrets as well. However, if she felt something would endanger the mission she would…"

"I'm not my father, and it won't affect the damn mission!" Aedri interrupted angrily. She glared at EDI for a moment until she saw the genuine concern in the android's face. She let out a deep breath.

"You are right about one thing. You are not your father. Not yet," EDI said. "If instability rises to 25%..."

"We'll be done before that happens," Annika interrupted. "I'm monitoring her vitals around the clock. Glyph is capable of a carrying out a number of treatments."

"I see," EDI replied with uncertainty.

"Damn it, EDI, don't you think this is hard enough on me without you second guessing," Aedri snapped. She didn't mean to but all the talking was throbbing inside her head.

"Please remember I am here because you asked and I chose to come," she reprimanded her as she moved to the door.

"I'm sorry, EDI," Aedri offered.

She turned to look at Aedri. "As I said before, I cannot support this endeavor, but I will wish you good luck. Goodnight, Aedri, Annika."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter VI**

The shuttle was already cramped and Aedri knew it would only get worse before it got better. The large krogan and his equipment were an addition she hadn't counted on and that coupled with all of the new computer cpu casings they'd welded to the walls. Annika had expected that EDI would agree to come but knew her processing power was limited by her android body. In order to take full advantage of her capabilities she needed "space to stretch her mind," so Annika had had installed dozens of cpus to supplement the shuttle's main computer. Now, they were just taking up valuable space. The ship was further loaded with supplies stacked up to Aedri's waist. It looked like they would be making beds out of the crates since there was barely enough floor space to even lay down a bedroll.

Aedri was in the rear of the ship trying to restack some of the crates to make more room for the two new passengers they'd soon have to accommodate, and she wanted to make sure Taris had his own space in the back to avoid her, as she knew he would. She hadn't seen him since their meeting with the Council just over a year ago and she wasn't looking forward to the reunion. However, she needed the best if she was going to pull this off and that was Taris. She cursed out loud in asari as her preoccupation led her to smash her fingers between two crates.

Mordin let out a guttural laugh from the middle compartment. "You got a krogan back there? Haven't heard cursing that good since I left Tuchanka."

She moved into the middle compartment to find the krogan looking at a data pad, leaning back on a stack of crates that he had organized into something that looked too much like a throne. She crossed her arms. "Are you actually reading while I'm trying to move all of this?"

Mordin shrugged, not looking up from his reading. "Nobody's got a gun to your head."

"What are you reading anyway?" She asked as a field of rippling blue energy surrounded the data pad. The data pad flew out of his hand before he could react and over to Aedri who deftly caught it. "You'll need better reflexes than that if you're going to tag along."

The krogan shoved himself up off the crates, making a loud thud as his feet hit the metal floor, his dark eyes narrowed. "Nice trick, blue. Give it back!"

Aedri gave a roguish grin. "Blue? I like it," she said and stepped back as she scanned the data pad. Her face lit up, and she looked back at the young krogan. "'How to Become a Spectre in 10 Easy Steps' by Niftu Cal, Biotic God & Greatest of the Volus?"

Mordin lunged for the data pad, but Aedri easily sidestepped and he smashed his forehead into the bulkhead.

"You didn't pay for this did you? Because, you know there has never been a volus Spectre, right?" She said and tossed the data pad in his direction.

Mordin let the data pad bounce off his chest and hit the floor and then smashed it with his armored foot. He snarled and returned to his throne. "Doesn't matter. Council would never let a krogan into their little club. I'm not tame enough to be a Council pet," he said and spat.

Aedri studied his face carefully. Did this krogan look up to her? The thought was flattering. "You giving up that easily?" she challenged as she lit up a small crate with the blue energy and hurled it toward his head.

"Krogan don't give up!" He said as he swatted the missile away and slammed his fist onto one of the crates, denting it.

Aedri nodded. "That's right. They don't."

Mordin stood back up and scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he spoke. "You still want those crates moved?"

"That would be helpful. Thank you, Mordin."

She tried to move past him towards the cockpit. He grunted as she elbowed him in the face as she clambered around him.

"Sorry about that," she said.

"All Spectres travel this flashy?" He smirked.

"It's just temporary. I just needed something small and cheap to get us where we need to go. You'd have more room to stretch if your equipment request wasn't large enough to outfit a small army," she said, pointing to his stack of crates.

He punched his fists together and grinned, baring his sharp teeth. "Go big or don't go at all."

"That is concurrent with krogan logic," Glyph said form the cockpit.

Aedri merely shook her head and moved into the forward compartment where Glyph was monitoring the autopilot. "How long till we reach Rannoch?"

"Two hours," Glyph replied.

"Try to make it faster. I think the filtration system in here is faulty. All I can smell is krogan."

"Then perhaps suggesting that Mordin exert himself further by moving around large crates was not the most prudent course of action."

Aedri turned and shouted. "Mordin sit your ass back down."

The krogan dropped the crate where he was standing and headed back to the middle compartment. "Whatever. I'm your bodyguard, not a damn decorator anyway."

Aedri smiled. She liked him. "What was the first step?"

Mordin looked at her with a confused glance.

She pointed to the crushed data pad.

"Oh, that," he grumbled. "'Find a Spectre to mentor you.'"

Aedri cocked her head. "Hmm. That's actually not bad. I guess we move on to step two then," she said then with a grin, "hope you memorized them."


	7. Chapter 7

**Update (1/30/2013):**

My apologies, if you've read this story before, a new chapter has not been added yet. In preparation for adding the next chapter I was making some corrections and accidentally deleted some chapters, so I've just readded them. So nothing new for you to read just yet!

Thanks for all the reviews, follows and messages so far.

* * *

******Chapter VII**

Aedri stared at herself in the mirror. Taris and Kirith had signaled they would arrive shortly. This was the first time they would all be meeting together and heading off into the unknown. She had to make a good impression. She had to show them that she was someone they could follow, which meant everything had to be perfect. No matter how perfect it was though, she knew it wouldn't be enough for Taris. She'd betrayed him, and there was no getting around that fact.

She had carefully unpacked the new suit of armor from the case and began to piece it together over the black form-fitting bodysuit she was wearing. Then she took time to adjust the gray armor until each piece was set just right. After it was right, she ran a cloth across spots that could use some polish, concentrating especially on the dragon emblazoned on her chest, until the dark red shone bright and clear. Tossing the cloth aside, she stood at attention as if awaiting inspection. Her sharp eyes searched for any mistake, any flaw that might stand out. She had chosen this armor, her father's favorite, specifically. It had of course been out of production for decades and having a new suit custom made with all of the newest advancements had no doubt cost Velon a small fortune, which she would have been more than willing to pay since she was willing to spare no expense in pursuit of her goal. And she was certainly willing to set aside her pride and work with Taris again.

The sudden thought of seeing Taris again made her heart beat faster. She let out a heavy sigh and ran a gloved hand across the top of her head. She thought again of the many times she'd asked Mira to explain why she didn't have beautiful hair like hers. Though she did have to admit that perhaps red wouldn't have gone so well with her blue skin.

She replied and splashed some water on her face. Then she looked in the mirror, staring at the reflection of her dark green eyes. This was it. She was about to lay it all out for them, well as much as was necessary, she knew there were things she couldn't tell them. There were always things that had to be hidden, weren't there? They all had a basic idea of what she had in mind, but she hadn't given out any details as to how she intended to accomplish it. She broke her gaze with the mirror and dried her face. Time to go act like a Spectre.

A few moments later Aedri emerged from the bathroom into the main room. She had rented a hotel room near Rannoch's largest spaceport, where they'd docked their shuttle. After the trip to Rannoch, she had decided they should spend the night there and go over their mission plan and get a good night's rest before moving on. Mordin was asleep on the couch letting out a snore that came out as more of a roar. Glyph was busily scanning the room for bugs and surveillance just to be on the safe side. Aedri approached a table in the center of the room with a holodisplay. She began to tap the keypad attached to it as she loaded up her mission plans. She glanced up nervously when the door chimed.

Mordin jumped up from the couch in an instant. "That human's arm was already broken. I swear!"

Aedri regarded Mordin curiously. "What interesting dreams you must have."

Mordin waved her off and then let out a yawn.

"Not that I'm one who should be judging dreams I suppose," she added and returned her attention to the holodisplay. "Would you let them in, Glyph?" She had to force her hands to stop shaking.

Glyph hovered over and unlocked the door. He greeted Kirith and Taris as they came inside. Aedri straightened up and forced as smile as they approached the table.

Kirith rushed to her excitedly and then suddenly stopped herself. She stood straight and saluted. "Lt. Kirith Talos reporting as asked, Spectre Shepard."

Aedri returned the salute and then wrapped the turian in a hug. "Welcome, Lt. Talos. Congratulations on your promotion."

Kirith smiled, or the turian approximation of a smile at least, proudly and nodded. "Ready to kick Reaper ass, Spectre. Got new armor just for the occasion. As did you apparently." Kirith stepped back to admire Aedri's new outfit. "I love it."

Aedri nodded appreciatively.

Taris had taken a spot up on the other side of the table, watching them closely, arms crossed. Aedri turned her attention to him. Taris was, besides being an idealist, a modernist. He did not wear the pressurized environmental suits or masks that were still popular among many quarians, though it had become more of a cultural item than a means of survival. With the help of the geth the ability of the quarians to survive outside of the suits had come more quickly than anyone expected, but there were many who still held onto them as a reminder of their centuries away from their home world. Taris had always been of the opposite mind. It was time for a new Rannoch shared between the quarians and the geth, and the suits were just a reminder of the bad blood between the two. As a commander in the quarian military, Taris had led one of the first special ops groups made up of quarians and geth, a project that languished for years but which he had helped bring to reality. He had long been supportive of a strong integration of geth and quarian society. He believed in their shared history and the strength they would have from working together.

"Spectre," he said simply.

"Commander," she replied with a curt nod. His face was so unreadable to her he might as well have been wearing a mask. Apparently the passage of a year had not altered his feelings toward her.

He shook his head. "No. Just a civilian now. Decided it was better to spare the Fleet the embarrassment of having me as an officer. Apparently some members of the admiralty board got a hold of the report of my failed Spectre mission. They weren't pleased with my performance it seems."

Aedri swallowed hard. "I'm sorry to hear that. It's a loss to the fleet."

"Taris!" Kirith spoke up, glaring at him. "It's not her fault."

"No, it's alright," Aedri said, laying a hand on Kirith's shoulder. It was entirely her fault, but Kirith didn't know that. Taris hadn't told her what actually happened obviously. She didn't know why. Was he trying to protect her, despite how much he despised her? More likely he knew how much Kirith looked up to her and couldn't stand to shatter the turian's image of her.

Mordin grunted. "Are we here to discuss war or what?"

"Yes, indeed we are," Aedri replied, thankful for Mordin's interruption. Her left arm was enveloped in the holographic display as she activated her omnitool. She began to manipulate a holographic keypad on her arm and a display of a mass relay appeared above the holodisplay on the table. "This is Relay Zeta-3. This is our destination."

"Is that where I' m afraid it is?" Taris asked.

Aedri tapped on the omnitool and a galactic map appeared, pinpointing the relay's position. "There it is."

"That's definitely batarian space," Kirith said.

Taris leaned his hands on the table. "Do you know what the batarians hate almost as much as the woman who killed 300,000 of their people, Aedri?"

Aedri gritted her teeth, the muscle in her jaw twitching as she locked eyes with him. There was definite venom in the way he said her name. When she realized he wasn't going to continue until she answered, she spoke. "What is that, Taris?"

"Her Spectre daughter."

"My father was a ceaseless advocate for the batarians. She saved the damned galaxy," Aedri replied defensively.

"Granted. When Shepard was on the council she did much in helping secure support for their rebuilding efforts. She even had the courage to go tour the destruction on the batarian home world personally, surviving no less than four assassination attempts in the process. I'm not saying Shepard wasn't justified in blowing that relay. But being a Spectre you must know that since the military coup on the batarian home world and the collapse of the Treaty of Mindoir three years ago, the official position of the Hegemony has reverted to Shepard being a war criminal. My point being, if you set foot in batarian space, you're the next best thing to them. You're their chance at revenge. I myself do not want to end up in a batarian prison."

"Perhaps, if you heard my entire plan, you would be less anxious," Aedri suggested.

"Doubtful," he replied. "Not to mention, the Council has forbidden access to the Zeta-3."

"The Council has no authority in the Hegemony," Aedri countered.

"No, but they do have authority over you," he reminded her.

She frowned and tapped the keypad and the display of the galactic map changed to a space station. "This is our key to batarian space and beyond. The Systems Alliance Primus Shipyard. They've just completed final testing on their new Elysium class frigate." She tapped another key and a holo of a small ship appeared. "It's a top secret project to create a small, fast ship capable of penetrating deep into enemy territory undetected to perform surveillance and carry out black ops missions. It carries the newest iteration of their cloaking technology."

Taris uncrossed his arms and leaned on the table. "You're going to steal a top secret Alliance ship? Is that right? And then you're going to use that ship to violate Council edict?"

Aedri stared at him. "Borrow. And the Council expects Spectres to use their own judgment in doing what is necessary to preserve galactic peace."

"You don't give a damn about galactic peace," Taris snapped harshly. He crossed around the table and came right up to her. At almost six and a half feet he towered over her by almost a foot.

There was a crack in Aedri's armor. Taris knew how to get to her. She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off before she could begin.

Mordin rested his hand on the pistol at his side.

"You're just child, frightened and selfish. You're not fit to be a Spectre."

She steeled herself. "I'm not the one that failed."

"Your fault not mine!"

There. Now his armor was cracked, and they were on equal footing. That was the first time he'd accused her. "A Spectre survives and does what has to be done. Don't blame me because you couldn't find another solution."

He looked to Kirith. "This is enough. Kirith, you can't possibly think this is a good idea."

Kirith glanced back and forth from Aedri to Taris but then stood her ground. "Go if you want. I'm staying. I promised, Aedri."

He turned to look at her. "You're really going to choose her over me?"

She met his eyes. "That has nothing to do with it. I care about you both, but I made a promise."

Taris bristled. "She doesn't even want you, Kirith. The only reason she's coerced you into this is because she needs me, and she knows I wouldn't go along with it. Why don't you tell her the truth, Aedri?"

Aedri lowered her eyes for a moment and then looked to Taris. "That's not true. I need a good pilot."

Kirith nodded. "That's me. I really am the best."

Taris pointed to the holo of the small ship. "You're talking about attacking an Alliance shipyard. They will send the other Spectres after you and drag you back to the Citadel in chains, and you'll take all of us down with you. No matter what I think of you, I have no desire to see you brought down in front of everyone. Your parents don't deserve that."

"Don't worry about yourself. You're protected. I'll note in the logs that your actions were carried out with Spectre authorization."

He walked back to the other side of the table as he spoke, shaking his head. "Oh, yes, that worked well for your grandmother. Didn't she follow a Spectre? Can we expect the same protection that Saren gave her in the end? All this to try and find two people who have probably been dead for forty years!"

It wasn't planned or expected but the biotic wave shattered the holographic projector and flipped the table before slamming into Taris's chest, throwing him against the wall behind him.

Kirith rushed to his side. "Taris?"

"I'm fine," he said and pushed her away. He climbed to his feet slowly, obviously in pain. "Everyone else get out."

"Taris…" Kirith began.

"Out, Kirith."

"Do it," Aedri told them.

"The damn sphere too," Taris said pointing to Glyph.

Kirith and Mordin headed for the door with Glyph trailing behind.

"That was amazing," Mordin said approvingly as he passed by Aedri. Then when he reached the door he turned to Kirith. "Come on. I think I saw a bar downstairs. Five thousand creds says I can outdrink you."

Kirith looked back with concern as the door slid shut behind them.

Taris walked back over to the table, limping slightly. "Not bad. I really did not see that coming."

"It was reflex. I'm sorry," she said, looking down at her hands, which were beginning to tingle. She looked back at him. "They are alive. I know that. I have to go to them."

Taris threw his hands in the air. "How? How can you know that?"

"I want you to trust me."

"I've tried that before, Aedri. I did more than trust you."

"This is different. What I did to you before," she looked at him, sadness on her face, "there was no choice. I couldn't pull this off as easily without my Spectre status. I couldn't afford to lose that."

"Aedri," Taris said, his tone softer, "despite everything, I'm giving you a chance."

She cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"Come back with me to the Citadel."

She felt the tingling surge up her arms. She let out a small laugh and sat on the arm of a chair behind her, wringing her hands. "They did make you a Spectre, didn't they?"

He sighed and approached her. He knelt down in front of her placed a tentative hand over hers. "If you have evidence, real evidence that Shepard and T'Soni are alive the Council will hear it, but you can't do it like this. They are… concerned about you, and so am I."

"I'm fine."

"They think… they think you're showing signs of indoctrination."

She pushed his hand away and stood up. "That's ridiculous."

"Your plan is ridiculous, Aedri. Steal a ship. Fly to batarian space. Enter a banned relay and attack the Reapers?"

"It's not an attack. It's an extraction. I've seen the path, Taris."

"'The path?'" His tone was incredulous.

"Will you come or not?"

"You're not going anywhere, Aedri. I have two Spectres waiting outside. We'll escort you back to the Citadel."

"Is that how this works then? A betrayal for a betrayal?"

"If you think what I'm doing in any way compares to what you did, then you need to stop and think for a minute," he said as he tapped a small screen on the back of his armored hand.

The door opened and a heavily armed and armored salarian and asari entered the room. Aedri glanced at them and then back to Taris.

She sighed and raised her hands in defeat. "Before you do this… there are two things you need to know, Taris."

He eyed her suspiciously. "What is that?"

Aedri grinned and approached him. She placed her hands on his chest, moving her face close to his as her hands slid up towards his neck. She spoke softly, her lips just inches from his. "First, I absolutely cannot do this without your help. And secondly, my sister is the goddamn Shadow Broker, Spectre." With that she and Taris vanished in a flash of blue light.


	8. Chapter 8

**Update (1/30/2013):**

My apologies, if you've read this story before, a new chapter has not been added yet. In preparation for adding the next chapter I was making some corrections and accidentally deleted some chapters, so I've just readded them. So nothing new for you to read just yet!

Thanks for all the reviews, follows and messages so far.

* * *

**Chapter VIII**

Aedri and Taris reappeared in another flash of blue light inside the docking bay where her small shuttle was waiting. She took advantage of Taris's shock at the change in his surroundings. She deftly flipped around him, delivered a solid kick to the back of his knee, causing his leg to crumple. As he came down she wrapped an arm firmly around his neck and pressed her pistol to his temple.

"Maybe I'm not 'fit to be a Spectre', but we both know I'm a better soldier than you are," she whispered into his ear.

"You caught me off guard," he replied.

"Spectres are never off guard," she replied, more playfully than she intended.

"So now what? What the hell was that?"

She smiled and rested her forehead against the back of his head. His black hair tickled her nose. "Just a little something my sister picked up from the salarians. A teleportation system. The plans we got were incomplete. It's taken her years to get the prototype right. The salarians are still working on it themselves."

"The others will communicate with the Council what's happened. Your Spectre status will be gone within the hour, and you won't get within ten light years of Primus."

"You would be right. However, they've been dealt with."

Taris tried to turn his head to look at her, but her arm tightened around his neck. "You killed them?"

She lowered the pistol and shoved him away from her. "I don't murder Spectres. Do you actually think I'm capable of that?"

Taris pushed himself up off the floor. "I'm not sure anymore."

She gave a cold laugh. "They're alright. Their communications are just jammed. The council should be receiving a report shortly that I've surrendered and you are returning with me to the Citadel."

"That won't buy you much time. Once they realize their communications are blocked, they'll find alternate means."

She nodded and holstered her pistol. "Quite. Fortunately it will take some time for them to get out of that hotel room. Once we teleported out, Glyph activated a force field in the room. It should hold them long enough for us to complete the next step, though we'll have to speed things up."

"You've thought this out."

She shook her head and grinned with pride as she headed toward the shuttle. "No. Annika has. She solves the problems. I take care of the field work."

"What grand solution does your sister have for making me come along?"

"We've covered this. Kirith is coming with me," she said as she began to open the shuttle door. "That's all I need, and you'll follow. Though I do wish you would come because you trust me."

Mordin came rushing out of the shuttle as the door opened and headed straight for Taris, his battle-scarred reptilian face contorted in fury.

Aedri quickly stepped between them. "Mordin, no."

The krogan stopped and snarled. He thrust a fist in Taris's direction. "You try something like that again, and I won't let her stop me!"

Aedri grabbed Mordin by the collar of his armor and pulled his face down to her. "Mordin, back it off. It's fine. I know what I'm doing. Please go finish prepping the shuttle," Aedri insisted.

His red eyes narrowed viciously as he watched Taris. Taris merely returned his stare.

"Mordin, go!" she ordered and released his armor.

The krogan let out one last guttural snarl before returning to the shuttle.

Kirith poked her head out of the shuttle door. She was obviously as angry as the krogan. "I can't believe you did that," she said to Taris.

"How the hell did you get here ahead of us?" He asked.

"As soon as we left, Glyph filled us in on your plan and teleported us here. I have to have one of those! But don't change the subject. How could you try to turn Aedri over to the other Spectres? Damn you, Taris."

Taris raised his hand to silence her. "Stay out of it, Kirith."

"We're going. The sooner you get that through your damn skull, the sooner we can get underway," she replied and popped back in the shuttle.

Glyph appeared in her place. "We must depart shortly, Spectre," he informed Aedri.

She nodded to Glyph and then approached Taris. "I have everything you'll need on board. If you want to make sure she stays safe, you'll have to come with me."

He studied her for a moment, obviously deep in thought. "What if… if you left Kirith behind, I'd agree to come."

She sighed and smiled sadly. "I wish I could, but you've already made it clear you don't trust me. I need your expertise, and I need you to be committed. I'm not sure I can get that without Kirith there, and I really do need a pilot."

"That's blackmail, Aedri."

"It's desperation," she said with a resigned shrug and turned towards the shuttle.

"Is that what you think your father would want you to do?"

She stopped walking. Her face flushed and a chill flew across her skin. "As I remind people often, I am not my father. My father is better than I am. You think I don't know that? I'm constantly reminded of it. Do you think my father had to use this type of coercion to get people to follow her?"

"Do you have a plan to take the Alliance ship without a fight?" He asked her.

Relief flooded her. "Yes. I don't murder Alliance soldiers either. It will be a clean op. I promise."

Taris walked up behind her. He placed his hands on her hips, an act which caused her breath to catch in her throat. He turned her around to face him and gently reached up to cup the side of her face with his left hand.

Her body tingled, but this time it was not unpleasant. She involuntarily closed her eyes to the familiar touch of his three-fingered hand on her face.

"I'll come with you," he said softly.

She smiled and opened her eyes to see that he was frowning and her muscles tensed. There was something frightening in the way he looked at her.

"But understand me, Aedri. If anything happens to Kirith or even to the damn krogan, neither you nor I will come back alive. Am I clear?"

"Absolutely," she said, almost inaudibly.

He released her and headed toward the shuttle.

"Taris, wait," she said, her voice breaking.

He turned to look at her.

There were unshed tears forming in her eyes. "I am sorry… for everything. For this. For what happened on Helios. I still…"

"No. Don't do that, Aedri. The only things you need to make me aware of are mission specific," he interrupted her. "We have a job to do. Let's get to it."

She waited until he had disappeared into the shuttle before she let out a deep breath, pulled off her armored glove, and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She knew weakness would only serve to get her killed this time. The last time she'd shown weakness innocent people had died because of it. Things had to change now. The display on the back of her hand was flashing – "Instability / 11%." She put her other glove back on.

"After Primus, it will be all be different."


End file.
